


While Mommy's Away

by Killmongersmistress (teakturn), teakturn



Series: A Catfish Christmas [4]
Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: A Catfish Christmas, Domestic Fluff, Erik Killmonger Feels, Erik Killmonger Grows up in Wakanda, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Mother-Son Relationship, Parent Erik Killmonger, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-27 02:56:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19781821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teakturn/pseuds/Killmongersmistress, https://archiveofourown.org/users/teakturn/pseuds/teakturn
Summary: Fallon hasn't left her son's side since he was born, but a work opportunity will see her out of the house for a week. Meaning Erik and their son will be on their own. Erik's confident he has everything under control. It's just one toddler, how hard could it be?





	While Mommy's Away

N’Jemah King Stevens Udaku, her poor baby.

“This is cruel E,” Fallon ran her finger along the soft satiny skin of her newborn son’s cheek. Fresh out, the infant had a face that looked like a thumb that’d spent too long in water: wrinkled and featureless. But he was her thumb, adorable and wholly Fallon’s and she’d kill any man or woman who tried to take him from her.

“It’s tradition,” like her, Erik was lost in their sons face. His hand cupped the back of N’Jemah’s head and stroked the downy, thick hair there. 

Fallon didn’t want to look away from her baby’s face but she had to shoot her husband an unamused look, “The boy has three last names, Erik. Which one do we even put on his school documents?”

Erik began to answer but N’Jemah made a soft noise in his sleep. Their attention snapped back to the little one immediately. The world could have ended, time could have stopped, and nothing would make Fallon and Erik look away from their son. Nine months and eighteen awful hours of labor later, N’Jemah had turned the couple’s lives upside down irrevocably. And they wouldn’t have it any other way.

N'Jemah King became J.K. for short and he was the joy of his parents' lives. Fallon expected him to be fussy and difficult the way her mother said she was as a baby. Along with the fact that at his worst Erik could be downright aggravating to her soul, Fallon had known that she’d have a battle ahead of her. According to Ramonda and T'Chaka, Erik hasn't changed all that much from the boy they'd raised. So expectations were high that J.K. would be as high maintenance as his father, with his temperament to match. 

Instead, J.K. became the sweetest, most loving baby you'd ever meet. He only cried when he was tired or needed changing. Other than that he was content to sit and play with the assortment of toys he'd been gifted from family and strangers alike.

During their first visit since J.K. was born, the rest of the family got a glimpse of his unique personality. Ramonda swept into the room and with all her regal maternal glamour she'd caught J.K.'s attention from his playmat. It was practically the first time he'd meet her since his actual birth but he showed no fear at the cooing stranger. With a dimpled smile, he'd reached out to her to be picked up. Effectively melting every heart in the room into a puddle of sentimental goo.

"Are you sure this is your son?" T'Challa joked during the first of soon to be monthly family visits at their home in LA.

Erik shot his cousin a dark look, "Man give me my baby,"

Fallon put J.K. on a strict schedule of naps and bottles and tummy time that took all her time away from her work at the Center and her crafting projects. Officially she was on maternity leave but six months after J.K.'s birth and Fallon wasn't any closer to going back. She had gourmet baby food to make and organic diapers to wash. Never had housework made her happier. The dimpled smiles bestowed upon her by her son made all the sleepless nights and work more than worth it in her eyes.

Erik wanted to be home as often as Fallon did but the Center couldn't be neglected. There were now nine centers total in California and many more in all the places that needed it. He worked at home as often as he could but travel and work emergencies kept him away from his wife and child far more than he liked.

But that was all changing. Fallon had agreed months into her pregnancy to attend all of the Centers running the special project she'd set up before her pregnancy. It was an initiative she'd created to teach the youth they helped learn domestic and practical skills they weren't learning at school or home. Knitting and cooking had literally saved Fallon's life. She wanted to see others have the same chances she had to redirect their trauma from poverty or abuse into a skill that would make them a more well-rounded adult.

"J.K. just started toddling! I can't go yet." Fallon buried her nose in the thick puff of hair on the top of her son's head. He smelled like new baby and milk. She wanted to paint the inside of her nostrils with the scent so she never had to be without it.

Erik rolled his eyes and her suitcase right out the door. Akami, a Dora Milaje, took the case from her husband and packed it among the others that had already been brought out. The Dora security detail had been non-negotiable and Fallon didn't have the energy to argue. She was apart of the royal family now, that meant certain responsibilities and compromises.

"That boy is full-on walkin’, Fal." Erik reappeared in the doorway to the bedroom, "Watch, let him go,"

Fallon pouted but Erik was unmoved. The trick had been working less and less on him and Fallon knew it. She’d yet to find a replacement move though. Grumbling, Fallon placed a lingering kiss on her son’s head and let him go. Carefully, J.K. slid off her lap and took a few unsteady steps forward. 

Erik crouched in front of J.K. and put his hands out smiling at him with soft, proud eyes, "C'mere King! Come to Daddy,"

J.K. looked at Erik with Fallon's eyes and beamed his father's smile. His balance was shoddy but with a few wobbly steps, J.K. was in his father's arms. He used his tiny, dimpled fingers to pull at Erik's lips and grip his gold chain for balance.

"See, me and little man gone be alright."

"But what if you're not? What if he gets sick and I'm not here to sing his bedtime song?" Fallon twisted her wedding round and round her finger.

She was safe at home in her happy little bubble with her son. They went on walks to the park and library together. They had a lunch ritual that led him right into his nap and gave her three hours to clean and cook Erik's dinner. After a messy dinner and a warm bath, they sat in the rocking chair and she sang him, and usually herself, to sleep. The thought of disrupting their routine had anxiety tightening her belly.

Erik waved her fears away and prompted J.K. to do the same thing. Sending their smiley son into a waving frenzy that temporarily made her forget about her worry. In the end, though, Fallon had commitments to keep. This wasn't her first initiative at the Center but it was the first she was spearheading entirely on her own. No one could go but her because no one knew the program like her.

With several kisses and threats that if Erik didn't call her every night she'd be a widow the second she got back Fallon was off. And for the first time since his birth, Erik and J.K. were alone.

"It's just me and you little man," Erik tickled J.K under his chin making the toddler giggle and push at his father's hands. 

The first hour or so was chill. Erik had told all his employees to call him if and only if all the Centers were on fire at once. If they couldn’t go a week without him hovering over them to monitor their work they all needed to be fired anyway. He was going to take advantage of his paternity leave to finally catch up on all of the games, shows, and movies he missed. He placed J.K. in the child-proofed play area Fallon had created right in view of the couch.

"Run ya kingdom little man while Daddy runs his,"

Erik lost himself in a 2K match against a bunch of preteens on the internet for an hour before the J.K. began to whimper.

"What's up little man?" Erik approached his son. J.K. stood and raised his arms to be picked up. Erik lifted him from the play area, checked his diaper with a quick sniff, then settled his son in his arms. J.K. stared back at his father with a pouty, screwed up face.

J.K. could have been Erik's twin if not for Fallon's eyes and her rich dark skin. When he whimpered with big fat tears in his eyes waiting to fall, it tugged on Erik's heartstrings.

Fallon had left his schedule taped to the fridge along with his diet plan. Both documents had been sent to his computer. Erik thought it was excessive, J.K. was a baby. As long as he was changed and fed enough he should be fine right?

Erik tried feeding J.K. but his son pushed away both the bottle of breast milk and the baby food Fallon had stocked the fridge with before leaving. He threw a fit in his highchair while Erik searched for something to feed his son. He had his back turned for half a second before the clatter of a plate and porcelain bottle hitting the floor made him flinch and reach for a gun that wasn't there.

Fuck! J.K had made a huge mess of chicken and gravy baby food and best milk all over the floor. And now he was wailing. Really crying his little ass off in a way Erik had never seen before. J.K. was a chill baby, his little rider. The wailing kicking toddler in that high chair had to be someone else's baby.

Erik rushed over, deftly hopping over J.K.'s mess and took him out the high chair. He quieted a bit then but he didn't stop crying and the tears didn't stop coming. It wasn't until he began rubbing his eyes between his cries that Erik figured it out.

"Lil'nigga you tired? You could have just said so." Erik left the mess were it was to be cleaned up once he put J.K. in his crib and skipped out the room to start on the mess his son had made in the kitchen.

A wail-no, a little toddler using all their lung capacity- stopped Erik in his tracks and left him skidding across the floor right into the mess of gravy and milk. 

"Fuck! Here I come King, give Daddy a second." Erik yanked off the sock with the most damage and jogged back to J.K.'s nursery. There he found his son standing in his crib looking pitiful and snotty. He was crying like he was being murdered.

Erik mimicked all the soothing, shushing noises he'd heard Fallon use as he picked him up. J.K clung to his father's shirt with his dirty hands and buried his equally dirty face into his neck. His son really was tired but Erik had no idea what Fallon did to get the toddler to lay down.

They both had strengths and weaknesses when it came to caring for their son. Erik was the diaper king and Fallon, after an incident involving explosive diarrhea, and yet another incident involving pee in some unfortunate places, usually left the job to him if she could. But bedtime was Fallon's domain. She could get J.K. fed, bathed, and down for bed in little under 45 minutes 

Erik usually peeked in after J.K. had already slipped off to sleep. 

Unable to think beyond J.K.'s wailing Erik's mind reminded him that Fallon had left behind instructions. She spent more time with their son than anyone, he'd be wise to follow her lead in this. The thought lingered in his mind long enough for Erik to realize that J.K had cried himself to sleep in his arms.

Nah. Fuck that. He was a grown-ass man, perfectly capable of taking care of his son. There had been some bumps in the road in the beginning there but he had shit under control now. 

Confidence renewed, Erik carefully placed J.K. in his bed. As soon as Erik pulled J.K away from his chest his son startled awake. He took one, wide-eyed look at Erik and burst into tears.

Fallon had a high nothing, not even jet lag could touch. Her initiative was a roaring success and she and T'Challa were making plans to expand their reach. She'd suggested pop-up classes for the cities they'd yet to permission to build a new Center in. As excited as she was though, as soon as Fallon pulled up the ridiculously long drive to her front door all age wanted was her baby and her man.

Erik had kept his promise to call every night but the talks were never for very long and she hardly ever saw J.K. Fallon was dying to hold her baby in her arms, lay with her man in her bed, and just be in the moment with her happy little family. A little family she was hoping would get a little bigger once J.K was big enough.

The driver hadn't even pulled to a complete stop Fallon had her designer heels on the pavement and her eyes on her front door. Thought of seeing J.K. fueled her speed and she half-ran so she could get to her door as quickly as possible. She put unlocked the door and turned the knob, already thinking of all the kisses she would shower J.K. with to make up for lost time.

All thoughts of kissing chubby baby cheeks went right out the window when she opened the door and found herself blasted with the sound of her baby crying and Erik's voice singing tiredly off-key. The door swung open wide revealing Erik and J.K., dirty and inexplicably half-naked in the midst of the equally dirty house.

Baby toys, diapers, bottles, teething rings, and more littered the usually pristine black marble floors. Fallon took a tentative step forward, afraid of what could be out of sight in her usually pristine house. Erik stood in only his briefs and one dirty sock. J.K. only wore a diaper that was backward. His little body looked just as dirty as his father.

What the hell had happened? She'd only been gone a week.

"Erik?" Fallon stepped further into the house. She could now smell a foul scent. It seemed to be a mix of dirty diapers and food that's been left out. It was unbearable, Fallon covered her nose with one hand and called out to her husband again.

"Erik!"

Her husband jumped as if she'd him woken up and turned to face her with a tired look in his eyes. In his arms, J.K. was still crying and by the looks of it, he'd been crying for a while. Fallon didn't even need to look at her kimoyo beads to know J.K. should have been asleep for his midmorning nap hours ago.

"Hey, princess. How was your trip." Erik couldn't even muster the will to smile he was so tired.

Fallon shook her head in disbelief at the man she'd married. "What happened? I left instructions everywhere…" Fallon's eyes caught a stain on a rug that had been a wedding gift from Wakanda. 

Erik looked sheepish despite, "J.K. spilled milk on the laptop," J.K. continued to cry sleepily in his father's arms. He'd began to hiccup and rub at his eyes.

"And the instructions I'd left on the fridge?"

Erik wouldn't meet her eyes, "I got it wet so I tried to dry it off with the iron."

"We don't have an iron."

"So then I tried using the stove."

Fallon had no idea what to say to that. She was totally at a loss for words. It didn't help that J.K still hadn't stopped crying. She decided then and there to focus on her son first and then she could focus on her husband the mess he'd made of their house.

"Just ...Give me my baby," Fallon held her hands out for J.K. and focused on keeping her breathing even. If she got all worked up J.K. would never calm down. Erik and this ...mess could be dealt with later. 

Erik didn't need to hand J.K. off because their son was already leaning desperately towards her. Once she had him in her arms Fallon placed his head on her shoulder. She rubbed his back and began added a slight bounce to her step as she walked further into the house.

"Well here you come again and say you want your freedom," Fallon began in her husky singing voice, "Well who am I to keep you down?"

J.K.'s wails turned to whimpers and then silence as Fallon sang and bounced walked through the house. His little body became heavy with sleep in her arms and by the time she made it to the nursery he was out like a light. Her poor baby, his whole schedule had been disrupted. Fallon kissed his head and laid him in bed. Before she left she turned on the video baby monitor and closed the door behind her.

Fallon found Erik slumped on the couch, still in his boxers and one sock. His head was tipped back against the sofa and the image of him out like this reminded her of their first month together. It had been years since Erik asked her to pretend to be her girlfriend for Christmas and they'd changed a lot together. They'd grown out of the trauma of their childhoods to create a happy and healthy life for themselves and their son.

All the anger at him rushed out of Fallon at once. Her husband, usually so capable at the things he put his mind to had struggled with their son. But he hadn't complained or asked her to come back early because he knew that she would and that she'd regret missing out on seeing her work in person, actively helping youth.

Fallon kicked off her heels and carefully stepped on the clean parts of the floor to reach Erik. He stirred when she sat next to him on the couch and woke up enough to send her a sweet sleepy smile 

"Hey baby, how'd your trip go?" 

Fallon stroked his beard, "It was good, sweetie. We're doing a lot of good out there and T'Challa said we could start doing pop up classes to gain support from the communities of future Center locations,"

Erik's eyes closed and he shifted on the couch until he could lay his head on her lap, "Hmhmm."

Fallon moved from stroking his beard to running her fingers through his locs. They were so long now he had to pull them into a bun on his head to keep them out of his eyes.

"You should have seen those kids, sweetie. Some of them have never had a home-cooked meal before. Their parents work too much and can't afford groceries half the time because of this ridiculous rent hike,"

"Oh, word?" Erik snuggled into her stomach. He was obviously half awake but Fallon continued anyway. Having him in this state made what she wanted to ask him next much easier.

"I got pretty close to the kids myself. A lot of them are orphans or living with relatives who can barely afford to make ends meet let alone raise somebody else's child."

After she spoke there was a long pause before Erik's, "Mmhmm."

"And you know we've always talked about having more kids so J.K. has someone to play with." Fallon waited through Erik's silence. He was either already asleep or he'd caught on to where she was going.

Erik turned his head in her lap to stare up at her, "Are you saying you want to adopt one of those kids from the Center?"

Fallon shrugged, "Well maybe not those kids but someone's kids. We could do a lot of good with the blessings we have Erik. Of course, I want another baby with you but I also know that I would love any child in our care as much as J.K. without hesitation."

Erik sat up and mulled over her words. He still looked sleepy, yet more alert now that J.K. wasn't making his ears bleed.

"Adopting a child is a big commitment, Fallon. This is a person we're talking about. Once they're here, they're here."

Fallon smiled, pleased that he was taking this seriously and not saying no outright. Grabbing his hand and hugging it to her chest Fallon said, "I know this and that's why it's so important to me. I know we lost our parents in very different ways but we both know how it feels to be uprooted from what you'd known was safe and left to live on the kindness of others."

Fallon looked down at their joined hands, "You and J.K. and the royal family are the only family I have left and I feel so blessed for you all. I just want to do that for someone else."

Erik stayed so silent after her speech that Fallon would have thought he fell asleep. A peek through her eyelashes confirmed that he was still awake just staring out of a window lost in thought. Content to wait him out, Fallon rested her head against his shoulder and tried to breathe through her mouth. She loved her husband but he was a little ripe right now.

After a moment of thought, Erik nodded his head and turned to meet her eyes, "I'm into it. I want to talk with professionals before we take any concrete steps, though. And I wanna wait until J.K. is a little bigger."

Fallon beamed, "Thank you for thinking about it, sweetie. I know it's a big step to after only one baby but I think we can do this."

Erik nodded and yawned so wide she thought she heard his jaw crack, "I'm takin' my ass to bed. Yo son wore me out."

"Hit the showers first Stevens. If you smell good I might even tuck you in."


End file.
